The Day the Doctor came to Tea
by Anjion
Summary: When the Fifth Doctor turns up in my lounge, I am over the moon. But when Tegan and Turlough mysteriously disappear, it's up to the Doctor and me to find them!


Hello. My name is Roberta, but I'm usually called Bobby. I live with my parents and my pets; two cats, two dogs, a horse and a number of chickens. This is the story of what happened the day one of my favourite characters arrived at my home…

It was Saturday morning and I was home alone. Mum and Dad had gone out, and all my friends had gone off to some camp or other. (I could not go as I'd just recovered from a severe illness.) So there I was, idly watching a DVD – my favourite Doctor Who episode, _The Five Doctors_. I paused the DVD so I could get some food, and went out to the kitchen. Then I heard a faint but familiar _Vworp,Vworp!_ noise. Maybe I'd forgotten to pause the TV, I thought, so I went back to see. But no, the picture was frozen, with the 'Pause' sign on the screen. My imagination, then, and I went back to the kitchen. But the sound came again. I checked my phone, even though I knew that none of my ringtones featured that sound. Baffled and bewildered, I went back into the lounge, where I heard the noise again. This time, however, it was much louder and persistent, and I stared at the corner of the room with shock and anticipation. The outline of what I knew would become a blue Police Box was just visible, and as I watched it solidified with a small thud. A few seconds passed, and then the door opened and I heard voices.

"….sure this is the right place?" said one voice, in a strong Australian accent.

"Of course!" said another voice, in a cheerful, confident tone. "Welcome to…. – "

A young man with blonde hair stepped out of the door of the Police Box (which, for those of you who may not know, is called the TARDIS) and froze, his mouth open rather comically, his expression going from delight to surprise to bewilderment in less than a second. Two other people – a woman and a red-haired boy –appeared at the door behind him and stared, too. None of them saw me to begin with, and simply gazed around the room in a sort of stupor. The girl recovered first.

"Doctor," she sighed resignedly, this _isn't_ Praxis Hythe, is it."

The blonde man, who was wearing full Edwardian cricket regalia, opened and shut his mouth a few times, rather like a stranded goldfish. Finally he regained control of his senses.

"No, Tegan," he told the Australian girl in a small voice. "This is _not_ Praxis Hythe. However," he continued, perking up a bit, "we might as well look around now we're here."

He strode a few steps into the centre of the lounge, where he stood, hands in pockets, appraising his surroundings. He looked right at me at least twice before he actually noticed me there. When he finally did, he gave a friendly grin. "Hello there!" he said. "Who are you?"

I just stared at him for a moment, and then my mouth moved of its own accord. "I'm Bobby." I heard myself say. "And you're the Doctor."

He stared at me in disbelief for a moment. "How do you know that?!" he demanded, a note of suspicion in his voice.

"I'm a great fan of yours," I said, simply. He relaxed visibly.

"Oh, ok. So," he went on, indicating to the Australian girl, "this is…."

"Tegan Jovanka, and the boy is Vislor Turlough." I said, unable to help myself. All three stared at me for a long moment, and I felt a slow smile spreading across my face at their obvious surprise.

"Yes, well, anyway," coughed the Doctor, recovering himself. So nice to meet you, Bobby." He held out a hand, and I took it, laughing with pleasure as I did so. Tegan and Turlough shook hands too and, having got over their shock, relaxed noticeably and looked around them. The Doctor turned to me.

"I know this isn't the planet Praxis Hythe," he said cautiously, "but where _are_ we?"

I grinned. "This is Earth," I said happily. "In my lounge, to be precise."

"Doctor, look at this," said Turlough, speaking for the first time. (He had a very English accent, which was slightly surprising for an alien from Trion.) He was standing in front of the TV, studying the frozen picture upon it. By some strange coincidence, it was an image of Turlough himself, standing with his hands in his pockets behind the Doctor who had just arrived in my lounge, and an old man (whom I knew to be the Doctor's first incarnation. Tegan, I also knew, was in this scene, but she wasn't visible on the screen.) The Doctor strode across the TV and joined Turlough, before turning to me, bewilderment on his handsome face.

"What is this?" he enquired.

"That's what we call a DVD" I explained. (I knew he already knew about television, as he had come across at least a few on his travels.) "In my world, you're all fictional characters, played by actors. This is a recording of one of your adventures. I have the whole lot." I moved across to the bookcase and showed Tegan my impressive collection of Doctor Who DVDs. The Doctor joined us and gazed thoughtfully at the rows and rows of DVDs, before he spoke again.

"Do you think we might have a look around?" he asked. The TARDIS doesn't usually alter the coordinates unless there's a pressing reason."

"Certainly," I said obligingly, as I led them from the room. "But please be careful; one of my dogs bites."

After showing my three unexpected guests round my house, I took them out to see my horse and chickens. Prince, my beautiful black horse, greeted us with a friendly nicker, and I fed him a mint, which he crunched happily. The Doctor patted him while Tegan and Turlough went to admire my chickens. I should have noticed that something was not right when I heard them suddenly start clucking in panic, and my dogs Sharaz, a German Shepherd, and Jek, a Border Collie, suddenly started barking. But I was so engrossed with the Doctor and my horse that I didn't notice anything until they and the chickens suddenly fell silent. I turned.

"Uh, Doctor…" I said quietly. The Doctor turned too and looked around. Tegan and Turlough had vanished.


End file.
